Poet, wife, goldendoodle owner

Tag Archives: Schedule

It’s been a busy time of it these past couple of months. Many performances in the books, and I still have a couple of more coming up.

On May 29th, I had the privilege of performing in Cincinnati at Word of Mouth. Mark Flannigan puts on a heck of a show. The crowd was very welcoming and I felt really good on stage. I performed from I Speak Hick, and Fully Formed.

This past weekend, I was honored to perform at the Columbus Arts Festival at the Word is Art stage. I performed a couple of pieces from Fully Formed, and a lot of new work from 2018’s 30/30 in April. Besides the heat, it was a really great show. There were a lot of wonderful poets performing, and it was an all-women lineup. That doesn’t happen too often. I was proud to be a part of that.

And now I’m on break until later this month when I’ll be performing at Comfest (Community Festival) on June 23rd. That’s always a fun show, and the poetry is very good. In July, I head to Akron to perform, and then I’m off for a few months. Maybe between now and some of these other performances I can actually get something written.

I haven’t written more than two poems since the end of National Poetry Month. I feel rather pathetic about that. I have not one ounce of imagination, right now. I know, I know… Write every day! you say. I get that. I even tried that, but all that came out was I dont’ know what to write, I don’t know what to write, I don’t know what to write. Guess what? I don’t know what to write and it hurts. I’m reading, listening to music, fitting in my jogging and working out, and … nothing. That blinking cursor against the white field of possibility mocks me. I don’t know what is possible, right now. I hope I figure it out soon.

This poet is tired, y’all. My husband and I did some travelling this past weekend.

Friday, we went to Canton and performed for Writing Knights, the publishing company of three of my books. The editor, Azriel, runs a couple of different shows in the area, and it’s always a pleasure to stop up that way and perform.

Here’s a photo from that event:

Saturday was a blessed day of rest, though the hubs and I did enjoy an afternoon at the Oddities and Curiositites Expo in Columbus. It was most definitely odd and curious.

Sunday took us all the way to Toledo for Uncloisetered Poetry. It was my first time there at that particular event, and I admit, I was nervous about this performance. I had an old friend whom I hadn’t seen in six years that was going to be there. I had two new friends who I had yet to meet who were going to be there. Couple that with the fact that one of that couple, Stuart, is a professional comedian/ performer and his wife, Shirley, is a successful writer on her own, and my nerves were on edge. All I could do was put together my strongest set possible, take a breath, and do my thing.

And do it, I did.

I was incredibly proud of this performance. I performed pieces from I Speak Hick and Fully Formed. I really enjoyed performing pieces from both of these books, though, I do admit, the pieces from I Speak Hick lend themselves better to performance. I really let loose during my set, and the audience really seemed to be into it.

The crowning moment, though? When the professional performer and writer complimented me on how tight my writing is. I damn near wanted to cry. That is always something I worry about as a poet. It was nice to hear those kind words come from them. I’ll carry that with me for a good, long, time.

Here are a couple of pictures from Uncloistered Poetry:

After this past weekend, I thought my May was over. I was fully intent on preparing for Columbus Arts Festival in June. My, oh, my, how things change. I received a message from a show I’ve been hoping to feature at for quite some time, asking me if I’d fill in as feature on the 29th. So, it looks like I’ll be road-tripping to Cincinnati to perform at Word Is Mouth. I’m excited for the new show and seeing a whole slew of new poets.